The popular Four’n’Twenty pies and other well-known Australian businesses have been purchased by an international corporation for a combined $500 million.
Patties Foods, which owns brands including Four’n’Twenty, Nanna’s, Chef’s Pride, and Herbert Adams, has been acquired by Pacific Alliance Group (PAG), a significant private equity group with offices in Hong Kong.
Vesco Foods, which owns brands including Lean Cuisine and Super Nature, was also acquired by the company.
After purchasing Red Rooster, Oporto, and the WA-based Chicken Treat for a comparable sum in 2019, PAG will be able to extend their Australian portfolio thanks to the acquisition, which is allegedly worth more than $500 million.
Paul Hitchcock, CEO of Patties Foods, said that PAG’s acquisition will “unlock more investment and innovation.”
In Australia and New Zealand, we are known as a highly regarded food maker with a lengthy list of well-liked food products, he added.
The two firms working together at PAG, according to Vesco CEO Bernie Pummell, would “allow new intriguing prospects.”
Sid Khotkar, managing director of PAG’s operations in Australia and New Zealand and head of private equity, said the purchase will “improve the strength of our company in Australia and NZ.”
The latest renowned Australian brand to be acquired by foreign firms is Four’n’Twenty.
In the 1990s, US-owned Campbells Soup Company purchased Tim Tam manufacturer Arnott’s and then sold it to US investment firm KKR.
Favorite breakfast item Nestle, a Swiss company, owns Uncle Tobys, Asahi, a Japanese juggernaut, owns Fosters beer, and Kirin, a Japanese company, owns Tooheys.
Even rural clothes producer RM Williams, about as Australian as there is, was sold to Louis Vuitton owner LVMH located in France in 2013.
Patties and Vesco’s purchase by PAG is subject to regulatory clearance from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, its NZ equivalent, and Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) (ACCC).